The hero of Allan's (The Queen's Knickers
) droll and informative tale is a sperm named Willy who lives inside Mr. Browne "at the same address" as 300 million other sperm. The author wryly portrays that address and its inhabitants in a cross-section drawing of Mr. Browne's testicle, in which minuscule sperms bustle around a crowded town-like setting, complete with a "sperm bank," swimming pool and cinema. The author then zeroes in on Willy, who practices daily for the "Great Swimming Race," the prize for which is the "beautiful egg" inside Mrs. Browne. Willy isn't able to answer his teacher's question about how many sperms he'll have to beat ("He wasn't very good at math, but he was very
good at swimming"). But the teacher provides the racers with two maps—whimsically depicting the anatomically correct "inside" views of Mr. and Mrs. Browne. That night, when the couple "joined together" (lumpy bedclothes suggests their presence underneath), the race gets underway. Willy outswims his main rival and burrows into the egg. Rudimentary time-lapse drawings reveal "something wonderful" happening as the egg develops into a fetus and Mrs. Browne gives birth to a baby girl. "Where had little Willy gone? Who knows?," asks the author, who then slyly notes that when the child grows older, "she found she wasn't very good at math... but she was very
good at swimming!" Delivering basic facts with subtlety and humor, this sprightly story will serve as a useful catalyst for adult-child dialogue. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)
